O ROUAULT



neath the giddying razzle of circus,
            stars razored to glitter, the trapezist
soars and swoops above earth’s dust
but must glide down to swing at rest

   
  amid  the  gods  at  the  Alhambra
  not   star-struck   buckskin  riders
  on flash white horses, i remember


                    but cranky jalopies go bang & patched-up clowns with bubble red noses
                    whizzing custard pies, honking & hollering, baggy pants, squirting hoses
                                                         dunked skulls in frothy cake
                                                         but i howled for pity’s sake


                                                           beneath the mask of paint
                                                             pain, the task of taint
                                                      smiles balloon on lips of rubber
                                                             tastes blood, blubber


                                                                 dear old Pierrot
                                                                       Rouault
                                                              Christ on the Cross
                                                          the pimp at the bordello
                                                                       all of us

                                                                       
                                                                                                       Michael Small
                                    April 11/12, 1994
                                    February 18, 2010
                                   
                                    pub. Plume, England, 1997

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